Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Management and Governance
Published in: Journal of Management and Governance 2/2017

21-05-2016

Some have to, and some want to: Why firms adopt a post-industrial form

Authors: Chris R. Meyer, David G. Cohen, Sudhir Nair

Published in: Journal of Management and Governance | Issue 2/2017

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

A number of organizational scholars have suggested that to compete in a “post-industrial” world firms must adopt specific structures and approaches to managing. In this article, we explore the why of post-industrial forms, as opposed to the what. Often work in this literature speaks as though in the future only a post-industrial form will allow firms to compete successfully. We argue instead that adoption of a post-industrial form is a contingency: some firms have to operate in this fashion, some firms may want to, and some firms never will adopt a post-industrial form. Based on Thompson’s (Organizations in action, Transaction, New Brunswick, 1967) conception of production processes, we suggest factors that, if present, require firms to be post-industrial as well as strategies that make them want to adopt this relatively new form.
previous article Self-regulation of corporate governance in Russian firms: translating the national standard into internal policies

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Footnotes
1
We thank an anonymous reviewer for helping us develop this point.
 
2
The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for articulating this point.
 
Literature
Abrahamson, E., & Rosenkopf, L. (1997). Social network effects on the extent of innovation diffusion: A computer simulation. Organization Science, 8(3), 289–309.CrossRef
Achrol, R. S. (1991). Evolution of the marketing organization: New forms for turbulent environments. The Journal of Marketing, 55, 77–93.CrossRef
Alvarez, S., & Barney, J. (2007). Discovery and creation: Alternative theories of entrepreneurial action. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1, 11–26.CrossRef
American Psychological Association. (2013). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Amin, A. (2011). Post-Fordism: Models, fantasies and phantoms of transition. In A. Amin (Ed.), Post-Fordism: A reader (pp. 1–40). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
Anderson, P. (1999). Complexity theory and organization science. Organization Science, 10, 216–232.CrossRef
Aragon-Sanchez, A., & Sanchez-Marin, G. (2005). Strategic orientation, management characteristics, and performance: A study of Spanish SMEs. Journal of Small Business Management, 43, 287–388.CrossRef
Beans, M. (2009). Investigating modular organizations. Journal of Management & Governance, 13 (3), 163–192.
Bell, D. (1973). The coming of post-industrial society: A venture in social forecasting. New York: Basic Books.
Benson, J. K. (1977). Organizations: A dialectical view. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 1–21.CrossRef
Burgelman, R. (1983). A model of the interaction of strategic behavior, corporate context, and the concept of strategy. Academy of Management Review, 8, 61–70.
Chesbrough, H. W. (2006). The era of open innovation. In D. Mayle (Ed.), Managing innovation and change (pp. 34–41). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W., & West, J. (2006). Open innovation: Researching a new paradigm. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 128–152.CrossRef
Croatia, A-M., & Bergeron, F. (2001). An information technology trilogy: business strategy, technological deployment and organizational performance. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 10(2), 77–99.
D’Aveni, R., Bagnino, G., & Smith, K. (2010). The age of temporary advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 31, 1371–1385.CrossRef
Daft, R. L., & Lewin, A. Y. (1993). Where are the theories of new organizational forms? An editorial essay. Organization Science, 4(4), i–vii.
Davis, G., Diekmann, K., & Tinsley, C. (1994). The decline and fall of the conglomerate firm in the 1980s: The deinstitutionalization of an organizational form. American Sociological Review, 59(4), 547–570.CrossRef
Dess, G. G., Ireland, R. D., Zahra, S. A., Floyd, S. W., Janney, J. J., & Lane, P. J. (2003). Emerging issues in corporate entrepreneurship. Journal of Management, 29(3), 351–378.CrossRef
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147–160.CrossRef
Donaldson, L. (1996). The normal science of structural contingency theory. In S. Clegg, C. Hardy, & W. Nord (Eds.), The handbook of organization studies. London: Sage.
Donaldson, L., Qiu, J., & Luo, B. (2013). For rigour in organizational management theory research. Journal of Management Studies, 50, 153–172.CrossRef
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989a). Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. The Academy of Management Journal, 32, 543–576.CrossRef
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989b). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550.
Eisenhardt, K., & Brown, S. (1998). Competing on the edge of chaos. Long Range Planning, 31, 786–789.CrossRef
Eisenhardt, K., Furr, N. R., & Bingham, C. B. (2010). Microfoundations of performance: Balancing efficiency and flexibility in dynamic environments. Organization Science, 21(6), 1263–1273.CrossRef
Finkelstein, S., Hambrick, D. C., & Cannella, A. A. (2008). Strategic leadership: Top executives and their effects on organizations (2d ed.). St. Paul: West Publishing Company.
Floyd, S. W., & Wooldridge, B. (2000). Building strategy from the middle: Reconceptualizing strategy process. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage.
Ford, R., & Bowen, D. (2008). A service-dominant logic for management education: It’s time. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 7, 224–243.CrossRef
Galbraith, J. (1973). Organization design: An information processing view. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Garcia-Sanchez, J., Mesquita, L. F., & Vassolo, R. S. (2013). What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger: The evolution of competition and entry-order advantages in economically turbulent contexts. Strategic Management Journal, 35(13), 1972–1992.CrossRef
Garland, R. (2004). Share of wallet’s role in customer profitability. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 8, 259–268.CrossRef
Gershuny, J. I. (1977). Post-industrial society: The myth of the service economy. Futures, 9, 103–114.CrossRef
Golnam, A., Ritala, P., & Wegmann, A. (2014). Coopetition within and between value networks—A typology and a modelling framework. International Journal of Business Environment, 6(1), 47–68.CrossRef
Grant, R. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 109–122.CrossRef
Greenwood, R., Hinings, C. R., & Whetten, D. (2014). Rethinking institutions and organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 51, 1206–1220.
Gruber, M., deLeon, N., George, G., & Thompson, P. (2015). Managing by design. Academy of Management Journal, 58, 1–7.CrossRef
Helfat, C., Finkelstein, S., Mitchell, W., Peteraf, M., Singh, H., Teece, D., & Winter, S. (2007). Dynamic capabilities: Understanding strategic change in organizations. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Helfat, C. E., & Karim, S. (2014). Fit between organization design and organizational routines. Journal of Organization Design, 3(2), 18–29.CrossRef
Hoetker, G. (2006). Do modular products lead to modular organizations? Strategic Management Journal, 27, 501–518.CrossRef
Holweg, M. (2007). The genealogy of lean production. Journal of Operations Management, 25, 420–437.CrossRef
Huber, G. (1984). The nature and design of post-industrial organizations. Management Science, 30, 928–951.CrossRef
James, W., & Hatten, K. (1995). Further evidence on the validity of the self typing paragraph approach: Miles and Snow strategic archetypes in banking. Strategic Management Journal, 16, 161–168.CrossRef
Jansson, J. O. (2009). The myth of the service economy—An update. Futures, 41, 182–189.CrossRef
Katila, R. (2002). New product search over time: Past ideas in their prime? The Academy of Management Journal, 45, 995–1010.CrossRef
Lajili, K., & Mahoney, J. T. (2006). Revisiting agency and transaction costs theory predictions on vertical financial ownership and contracting: Electronic integration as an organizational form choice. Managerial and Decision Economics, 27(7), 573–586.CrossRef
Levinthal, D. A., & Warglien, M. (1999). Landscape design: Designing for local action in complex worlds. Organization Science, 10(3), 342–357.CrossRef
Lewin, A. (1999). Application of complexity theory to organization science. Organization Science, 10, 215.CrossRef
Lichtenthaler, U. (2011). Open innovation: Past research, current debates, and future directions. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 25, 75–95.CrossRef
Lowendahl, B., & Revang, O. (1998). Challenges to existing strategy theory in a postindustrial society. Strategic Management Journal, 19, 755–773.CrossRef
Mattar, Y. (2008). Post-industrialism and silicon valley as models of industrial governance in Australian public policy. Telematics and Informatics, 25(4), 246–261.CrossRef
McGrath, R. (2006). Beyond contingency: From structure to structuring in the design of contemporary organization. In S. Clegg, C. Hardy, T. Lawrence, & W. Nord (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organization studies. London: Sage.
McKelvey, B. (1997). Quasi-natural organization science. Organization Science, 8, 352–380.CrossRef
McSweeney, B. (2006). Are we living in a post-bureaucratic epoch? Journal of Organizational Change Management, 19, 22–37.CrossRef
Merlino, J. P., Petit, J., Weisser, L., & Bowen, J. (2015). Leading with lean: Getting the outcomes we need with the funding we have. Psychiatric Quarterly, 86(3), 301–310.CrossRef
Meyer, C., & Gauthier, J. (2013). Navigating challenging fitness landscapes: Social entrepreneurship and the competing dimensions of sustainability. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 4(1), 23–39.CrossRef
Meyer, C., Skaggs, B., Nair, S., & Cohen, D. (2015). Customer interaction uncertainty, knowledge, and service firm internationalization. Journal of International Management, 21(3), 249–259.CrossRef
Meyer, C., Skaggs, B., & Youndt, M. (2014). Developing and deploying organizational capital in services vs. manufacturing. Journal of Managerial Issues, 26(4), 326–344.
Miles, R., & Snow, C. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Miles, R., & Snow, C. (1990). Organizations: New concepts for new forms. In A. Boynton, & R. Zmud (Eds.), Management information systems: Readings and cases: A managerial perspective. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.
Mills, P. (1986). Managing service industries: Organizational practices in a postindustrial economy. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Mintzberg, H. (1990). The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 11, 171–195.CrossRef
Moore, M. (2005). Towards a confirmatory model of retail strategy types: An empirical test of Miles and Snow. Journal of Business Research, 58, 696–704.CrossRef
Nayyar, P. (1993). Stock market reactions to related diversification moves by service firms seeking benefits from information asymmetry and economies of scope. Strategic Management Journal, 14, 569–591.CrossRef
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science, 5(1), 14–37.CrossRef
Normann, R. (1984). Service management: Strategy and leadership in service businesses. Chichester: Wiley.
Penty, A. J. (1918). Old worlds for new: A study of the post-industrial state. New South Wales: G. Allen and Unwin Limited.
Porter, M. (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. New York: The Free Press.
Riolli-Saltzman, L., & Luthans, F. (1993). After the bubble burst: How small high-tech firms can keep in front of the wave. The Academy of Management Executive, 15, 114–124.CrossRef
Salomone, P. R. (1993). Trade secrets for crafting a conceptual article. Journal of Counseling & Development, 72, 73–76.CrossRef
Sanchez, R. (2005). Strategic flexibility in product competition. Strategic Management Journal, 16, 135–159.CrossRef
Scherpereel, C. M. (2008). The option-creating institution: A real options perspective on economic organization. Strategic Management Journal, 29(5), 455–470.CrossRef
Schmenner, R. W. (1986). How can service businesses survive and prosper? Sloan Management Review, 27, 21–32.
Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25, 217–226.
Simon, H. (1991). Bounded rationality and organizational learning. Organization Science, 2, 125–134.CrossRef
Simon, H. A. (1997). Administrative behavior: A study of decision-making processes in administrative organizations (4th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Skaggs, B., & Huffman, T. (2003). A customer interaction approach to strategy and production complexity alignment in service firms. Academy of Management Journal, 46, 775–786.CrossRef
Slater, S. F., Hult, G. T. M., & Olson, E. M. (2010). Factors influencing the relative importance of marketing strategy creativity and marketing strategy implementation effectiveness. Industrial Marketing Management, 39, 551–559.CrossRef
Smircich, L., & Stubbart, C. (1985). Strategic management in an enacted world. Academy of Management Review, 10(4), 724–736.
Smith, A. (1937). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. New York: Modern Library.
Spender, J. C. (1996a). Organizational knowledge, learning and memory: Three concepts in search of a theory. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 9, 63–78.CrossRef
Spender, J. C. (1996b). Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 45–62.CrossRef
Stabell, C. B., & Fjeldstad, Ø. D. (1998). Configuring value for competitive advantage: On chains, shops, and networks. Strategic Management Journal, 19, 413–437.CrossRef
Subramanian, M., & Youndt, M. (2005). The influence of intellectual capital on the types of innovative capabilities. Academy of Management Journal, 48, 450–463.CrossRef
Tansik, D. A. (1990). Balance in service systems design. Journal of Business Research, 20, 55–61.CrossRef
Teece, D., & Pisano, G. (1994). Dynamic capabilities of firms: An introduction. Industrial and Corporate Change, 3, 537–556.CrossRef
Teece, D., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18, 509–533.CrossRef
Thomas, L. (1996). The two faces of competition: Dynamic resourcefulness and the hypercompetitive shift. Organization Science, 7, 221–242.CrossRef
Thompson, J. D. (1967). Organizations in action. New Brunswick: Transaction.
Thompson, J. K. (2000). Using data exploration to help marketers: How internet sites can learn from telephone companies. The Journal of Database Marketing, 8, 28–33.
Tsoukas, H., & Chia, R. (2002). Organizational becoming: Rethinking organizational change. Organization Science, 13, 567–582.CrossRef
Tushman, M. L., Newman, W. H., & Romanelli, E. (1986). Convergence and upheaval: Managing the unsteady pace of organizational evolution. California Management Review, 29(1), 29–44.CrossRef
Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R., & McKelvey, B. (2007). Complexity leadership theory: Shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), 298–318.CrossRef
Van de Kamp, P. (2014). Holacracy—A radical approach to organizational design. In H. Dekkers, W. Leeuwis, & I. Plantevin (Eds.), Elements of the software design process—Influences on project success and failure. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam.
Van de Ven, A. H., Ganco, M., & Hinings, C. (2013). Returning to the frontier of contingency theory of organizational and institutional designs. Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 393–440.CrossRef
Vandermerwe, S., & Rada, J. (1989). Servitization of business: Adding value by adding services. European Management Journal, 6, 314–324.CrossRef
Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004). Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68(1), 1–17.CrossRef
Venkatraman, N. (1989). Strategic orientation of business enterprises: The construct, dimensionality, and measurement. Management Science, 35(8), 942–962.CrossRef
Victor, B., & Stephens, C. (1994). The dark side of the new organizational forms: An editorial essay. Organization Science, 5, 479–482.CrossRef
Williamson, O. (1985). Assessing contract. Journal of Law Economics and Organization, 1, 177–208.
Winter, S. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 24, 991–995.CrossRef
Winter, S., & Szulanski, G. (2001). Replication as strategy. Organization Science, 12, 730–743.CrossRef
Winter, S. J., & Taylor, S. L. (1996). The role of IT in the transformation of work: A comparison of post-industrial, industrial, and proto-industrial organization. Information Systems Research, 7, 5–21.CrossRef
Worren, N., Moore, K., & Cardona, P. (2002). Modularity, strategic flexibility, and firm performance: A study of the home appliance industry. Strategic Management Journal, 23, 1123–1140.CrossRef
Yang, M., Hong, P., & Modi, S. (2011). Impact of lean manufacturing and environmental management on business performance: An empirical study of manufacturing firms. International Journal of Production Economics, 129(2), 251–261.
Youndt, M., & Snell, S. (2004). Human resource configurations, intellectual capital, and organizational performance. Journal of Managerial Issues, 16, 337–360.
Metadata
Title
Some have to, and some want to: Why firms adopt a post-industrial form
Authors
Chris R. Meyer
David G. Cohen
Sudhir Nair
Publication date
21-05-2016
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Management and Governance / Issue 2/2017
Print ISSN: 1385-3457
Electronic ISSN: 1572-963X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-016-9353-5

Other articles of this Issue 2/2017

Journal of Management and Governance 2/2017 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

Beyond trust: towards a practice-based understanding of governing ‘network organizations’

OriginalPaper

Efficiency of internal control: evidence from Swiss non-financial companies

OriginalPaper

Audit quality and earnings management in less developed economies: the case of Saudi Arabia

OriginalPaper

Explaining the influence of time budget pressure on audit quality in Sweden

OriginalPaper

The role of the board in shaping foundations’ strategy: an empirical study

OriginalPaper

Board characteristics and the value relevance of fair values

Premium Partner

    Image Credits